He served as the First Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and as Deputy Political Commissar of the Second Artillery of the People's Liberation Army, holding the rank of Lieutenant General.
In July 1938, Yin Fatang joined the Feicheng County Security Guard under the auspices of the CCP, which was restructured into the Seventeenth Detachment, commanded by Fan Zhuxian (Chinese: 范筑先), in October, and subsequently transformed into the Sixth Detachment of the Shandong Column of the Eighth Route Army in November, operating in Tai'an, Feicheng, and surrounding counties.
In 1940, he held the position of organization officer for the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division, which was subsequently renamed the second sub-district of the Ji-Lu-Yu Border Region (Chinese: 冀鲁豫军区).
[12] He and Li Ming (Chinese: 李明), Chief of Staff of the Division, led the Right Route Army, initiated the Battle of Chamdo in early October 1950, defeated the primary contingent of the Tibetan Army, and secured victory in the Battle of Chamdo, establishing the groundwork for the political and peaceful independence of Tibet.
[15] He participated in and led the repression of the Dalai Lama's uprising in 1959, and was designated as the front-line commander for the counter-offensive campaign against India by the Indian government in 1962.
[22] Throughout his tenure, he instituted numerous programs to redirect the emphasis of work towards economic development, resulting in a significant transformation in Tibet.